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If a week is a long time in politics, it鈥檚 an eternity for governments dealing with coronavirus. The pandemic threatens to wreak havoc on health services and bring the global economy to a standstill. Though听France听has not reached the critical stage of its Italian neighbour, where permits are required to leave your house, it is inching closer towards quarantine.

Less than a week ago, President Emmanuel Macron announced that听schools and universities听would be closed. Two days later, the prime minister, 脡douard Philippe, hastily took to the political stage to order that cafes, bars, cinemas and theatres be shut down by midnight that day. It was a Saturday evening, and the theatres and restaurants of Paris were full. On social media, people posted videos of relaxed customers enjoying a last drink in bars long after the curfew had commenced. Policemen surveyed the scene as bystanders. They did not dare to interrupt this ordinary show of French听joie de vivre.

The following day, still undeterred by the government鈥檚 warnings, crowds were spotted in outdoor markets and parks across the country. Macron and Philippe were reportedly appalled by the population鈥檚 lack of collective discipline. The French media reported that one of听Macron鈥檚 political advisers听quoted Philippe P茅tain鈥檚 infamous 1940 speech: 鈥淭he spirit of enjoyment has overpowered the spirit of sacrifice.鈥� P茅tain, who served as the chief of state of Vichy France in collaboration with Nazi Germany, believed that France鈥檚 abject military defeat in the summer of 1940 could only be explained by the population鈥檚 lack of seriousness, poor work ethic and innate penchant for entertainment. P茅tain singled out the leftwing Popular Front alliance, which granted workers their first ever paid holiday, as responsible for the country鈥檚 military and moral collapse.

After people showed little sign of heeding Macron鈥檚 guidance, the president implemented further restrictive measures. During a speech on Monday, which invoked a mixture of Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle, Macron insisted several times that the country was 鈥渁t war鈥�, and asked the French to stay at home and self-isolate for two weeks.

Macron has become known for cutting public spending, so his pledges to fully fund the French national health service, 鈥渨hatever the costs鈥�, came as a surprise. Most surprising of all, however, was his announcement to reverse controversial pension reforms that ignited a months-long听nationwide strike听earlier this year. What the political left, the French unions and the听gilets jaunes听could not achieve after a year of intense political backlash, coronavirus has done in just a few days.

This is the closest France has come so far to an听Italian-style lockdown. In theory, all French citizens are confined at home and should work from there. Everyone has to download an听attestation de d茅placement d茅rogatoire听(an exceptional travel certificate). You are not required to show proof that you have a right to be out on the street; people self-certify and sign the 鈥渄eclaration of honour鈥�. The government is hoping that people will follow the rules.

But the first day of the national lockdown did not go according to plan. In some big cities (notably Paris), large crowds could be seen wandering in the streets. Shoppers bustled through the streets; few wore masks or kept the one-metre distance.听The police began issuing on-the-spot fines to citizens who weren鈥檛 carrying travel certificates. Didier Lallement, the police chief of Paris who has presided over a dramatic increase in alleged cases of听police brutality, threatened to use more 鈥渆xpedient鈥� measures to force people to obey orders.

The situation has dramatically worsened this week. On Monday,听1,200听new cases听were detected in one day, bringing the total number of reported cases to 6,633. At the time of writing, there are now 7,730 diagnosed cases and 175 have died after having contracted the virus. Stronger measures should probably have been taken earlier. Macron has acted decisively 鈥� but not consistently. Just a week ago, he invited the French to carry on life as usual, while on the same weekend that Macron closed bars and cinemas, the French executive flip-flopped on whether to hold local elections (they have since been postponed). Instead of giving orders once the virus had already begun to spread, Macron would perhaps have been well advised to sketch out how, in a time of coronavirus, a new French resistance could help contain the outbreak.

This article was first published on the Guardian.

Links

• Prof Philippe Marliere鈥檚 academic profile
• 果冻影院 School of European Languages, Culture & Society

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• Philippe Marli猫re